The Twitter account of Rachel Butera, the voice actor who plays Leia Organa in Disney Channel’s upcoming “Star Wars Resitance” animated series, has vanished.
The disappearance of her Twitter handle came after a backlash over a video Butera posted mocking the voice of Christine Blasey Ford, who testified Thursday in a highly charged Senate hearing that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her.
“I just have this kind of a voice, like a baby, even though I’m a doctor and I’m on this media circus, political stage, and I have kids myself, that I don’t know why I speak with vocal fry,” Butera said in the video (pictured above) she posted on Twitter along with the comment: “I can’t believe this is my voice, can you???. Dr. Christine Blasey-Vocal Fry-Ford.”
“I sound like I’m back at that high-school party,” Butera said in the video, a reference to the 1982 incident in which Blasey has alleged she was attacked by Kavanaugh.
As of Friday morning, Butera’s account (twitter.com/RachelAButera) appeared to have been deleted. Butera’s video mocking Ford’s voice remains available on Twitter, at this link. It’s not clear if Butera deleted her own account or if Twitter took action; Twitter typically does not comment on the status of individual accounts.
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Reps for Butera and Disney Channel did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Earlier Thursday, Ford told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that she was “100%” certain that Kavanaugh had attacked her 36 years ago and said she has dealt with years of trauma. Kavanaugh, in his testimony, vehemently denied the allegations, and said he was the target of an “orchestrated and calculated political hit” and even claimed it was “revenge on behalf of the Clintons.”
Butera, before her Twitter account disappeared altogether, tried to backtrack and apologize for posting the Ford video.
“I was by no means mocking a rape victim I am 100% on Christine Blasy [sic] Ford’s side!” the 45-year-old voice actor wrote in a tweet Thursday. “I am just a vocal impressionist and decided to imitate her voice but it was a mistake. I apologize a and I believe ALl women.”
“Star Wars Resistance” is set to debut on Disney Channel with a one-hour premiere on Sunday, Oct. 7. The series, set prior to the events of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” follows a young Resistance pilot (voiced by Christopher Sean) who’s enlisted to spy on the growing threat of the First Order.
Butera also voices White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in CBS’s “Murphy Brown” reboot. Her other credits include “Tammy’s Tiny Tea Time,” “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle” and a guest appearance on “Family Guy.” Butera is repped by Abrams Artists Agency.